Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Film review: Blue Is The Warmest Color

I swung on either side of doubt – the side that tell you, all
is good and the side that said that I was watching a porn film, made well with
a story.

Blue Is The Warmest Color, is a film about discovering one’s
sexuality.

The main protagonist, Adele, is in high school and is
discovering her sexuality and her leaning. She is with a boyfriend but finds
sex with him, missing in something; she can’t really place her finger on. But,
quite by chance she meets Emma, the girl with the blue hair and between them a
relationship takes birth. An older Emma is a painter and has had her share of
girlfriends, is experienced and is able to handle and take our Adele through a
road that makes the latter very sure that she is lesbian. Yet, when she is
insecure or lonely, she finds herself in the arms and bed of a boyfriend.
Naturally Emma is not happy about it. A fight ensures between the two and even
as Emma is warming up to her ex-girlfriend, whom she will finally find a home
with again, she throws Adele out of her life in an angry burst. Adele may have
discovered her preference, by now, but she is unable to move on in her life
with another woman. The two lovers meet again and although, Emma is not happy
with her sex life with her present girlfriend and professes to have enjoyed the
life with Adele, she too is stuck and does not break the relationship she is
already in.

The film is graphic and visuals of love-making are real as
real can be. So maybe children who need their own time to understand their
leanings, need to be kept from seeing it.

The story focuses more on the sexual life of Adele and in
that sense, I did feel at the end of the film a bit cheated, because, as a
woman, my feelings were quite this: the Director, Abdellatif Kechiche had used Adele’s body a bit
too much over the film. Also, he had made a film for men who are curious to know what goes on between lesbians, in intimate sexual relationship.

It would have been better to know that, perhaps discovering one’s sexual orientation is not
only about sex. I did not see some tell tale signs like falling in love with a woman
teacher, older aunt or some signs that are indicative of what is to come.

The story too, was sad. It did not end on a positive note.
It did not bring Adele and Emma together; indeed, it helped the viewer
reiterate the fact that Adele was used as an in-between, Emma’s ex and her
return to her, after Adele was thrown out. So, it sent out a strong message of
use-abuse scenario between the two, although it may be argued that Adele used
Emma to discover her own sexuality. Well, the argument could go anyways, but
the fact remains the same – the film made out in French with English subtitles,
is worth seeing and talking about and both Adele and Emma were certainly in
love. Their eyes said so, then what happened? Why did the Director not make a
happy ending?

You will have to see the film to answer that question, but
for now, let’s hear what Adele has to say about her role.